FILE – In this May 23, 2018, file photo, USA Gymnastics President and CEO Kerry Perry testifies before the House Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee about the Olympic community’s ability to protect athletes from sexual abuse, on Capitol Hill in Washington. USA Gymnastics has appointed five retired athletes to serve on a task force that will help the organization chart its course in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal. The task force was one of Perrys top priorities when she assumed leadership of the federation, which has seen a complete overhaul of its board in the wake of the scandal. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Embattled USA Gymnastics chief executive Kerry Perry has been forced to resign amid mounting pressure from the U.S. Olympic Committee after a series of high-profile missteps in her nine-month tenure as head of the scandal-ridden national governing body, the Southern California News Group has learned.

Perry’s removal will be announced Tuesday and additional steps toward reorganizing USA Gymnastics are expected in the coming days and weeks, according to two people familiar with the process.

Perry had been criticized for months for not reaching out to the survivors of former USA Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic team physician Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse and for focusing on marketing and branding instead of implementing policies to address the abuse of young gymnasts and make the organization more transparent.

Perry’s forced departure comes just four days after USA Gymnastics asked veteran coach Mary Lee Tracy to resign as the organization’s elite development coordinator after just three days on the job.

Tracy’s forced resignation came after USA Gymnastics officials said she improperly contacted Olympic champion Aly Raisman, who is suing the organization. Raisman, who was sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic team physician Larry Nassar, had criticized Tracy’s appointment because of Tracy’s support of Nassar when allegations of his sexual misconduct first began to surface.

Perry and USA Gymnastics were already under fire for hiring Tracy, a longtime member of the inner circle of former U.S. national team directors Martha and Bela Karolyi. The Karolyis are viewed by many in the sport as creating a culture of abuse within elite American gymnastics that enabled Nassar’s predatory behavior and are the subject of dozens of civil suits.

Tracy has been criticized for more than a decade by former Olympians and U.S. national team members for contributing to that culture. Tracy, the former gymnasts said, has been verbally abusive and forced athletes to train and compete while injured.

Perry was a surprising choice when the USA Gymnastics board hired her to replace Steve Penny last December, an appointment former gymnasts and safe sport advocates said reflected the organization’s misplaced priorities. Perry, with an extensive marketing background, was hired with USA Gymnastics embroiled in the biggest sex abuse scandal in American sports history.

Penny was also forced out under pressure from the USOC in the spring of 2017 against the backdrop of widespread charges that he and other USA Gymnastics employees and the FBI covered up Nassar’s sexual abuse of young gymnasts.

Perry had previously been the president and owner of a sports marketing firm. She began her professional career as a sales representative at Pitney Bowes, a business service firm specializing in postage meters and office equipment, and was promoted to executive director, a position she held for 11 years.

Perry’s initial moves did nothing to ease concerns about her hiring. She took over the organization at a time when survivors were calling for USA Gymnastics to reveal the extent to which officials knew about Nassar’s abuse and to take steps to prevent future abuse. Yet Perry focused on landing Nike as a corporate sponsor after a high-profile corporate partner dropped USA Gymnastics in the wake of the Nassar scandal.

Nike officials had their first telephone conversation with Perry and Adrienne Evans from USA Gymnastics’ marketing department on Jan. 18. The call came a day after Gina Nichols, mother of former U.S. national team member Maggie Nichols, confronted Perry during survivor testimony at Nassar’s Michigan sentencing hearing.

“I don’t want to hear any more statements from anybody else – we’re doing this and we’re doing that,” Gina Nichols said turning toward Perry, who was sitting in the courtroom. “We have a safe place now. It’s too late now.”

The call also came three days after Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles revealed that she had been sexually abused by Nassar. Biles is one of only two gymnasts ever sponsored by Nike. Olympic champion Shawn Johnson is the other.

Evans sent Nike partnership documents on Jan. 24. That was the same day Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexual assault in Michigan.

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“I’ve just signed your death warrant,” Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar in issuing her sentencing ruling.

The demands for Perry’s firing increased as she stumbled through a series of appearances on Capitol Hill. In her first major public appearance as USA Gymnastics CEO, Perry struggled during a House subcommittee hearing in May. Sticking to scripted talking points during the hearing and at times even making self-congratulatory statements, Perry seemed ill-prepared when questioned about several major issues.

When asked by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) why USA Gymnastics had not provided the panel with an aggregate number of sexual abuse complaints it has received, Perry said “Unfortunately what I’ve discovered is there wasn’t a lot of great data. I can’t answer to that.”

At one point during the hearing, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Georgia) in a raised voice told Perry “You should resign the position now! You are not fit to serve in this job!”

Scott M. Reid is a sports enterprise/investigative reporter for the Orange County Register. He also covers Olympic and international sports as well as the Los Angeles’ bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games. His work for the Register has led to investigations by the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Department of Education, the California Legislature, and the national governing bodies for gymnastics and swimming. Reid's 2011 reporting on wide spread sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics and the governing body's failure to effectively address it led to Don Peters, coach of the 1984 record-setting Olympic team, being banned from the sport for life. His reporting also prompted USA Gymnastics to adopt new guidelines and policies dealing with sexual abuse. Reid's 2012 and 2013 reporting on sexual abuse within USA Swimming led to the banishment of two top level coaches. Reid has won 11 Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting since 1999. He has also been honored by APSE for game writing, and enterprise, news, and beat reporting. He was an Investigative Reporters and Editors award finalist in 2002 and 2003. Prior to joining the Register in 1996, Reid worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Dallas Times Herald. He has a B.A. in the History of the Americas from the University of Washington.